Thursday Odds and Ends

A beautiful summer day at my favorite spot in my favorite park.  Can't wait to get there this year.  So serene and close to nature.

Lots of healthy foods on my list.  I try to stick to an anti-inflammatory diet, but sometimes I just need something sweet.

This is an awesome book for those with eating disorders.  I have never been bulimic or anorexic, but I do have to own up to being an emotional eater and have been known to binge eat for months on end.  I used to hide food in the past because I wanted it all for myself.  For example, I'd buy a box of Entemann's eclairs, hide them, then sit and eat them all in one sitting.  I have definitely gotten much better as evidenced by the 53 pounds lost, but I still have my moments.  Just a couple weeks ago I bought a bunch of cream filled Easter egg candies and ate all of them myself.  Then I feel guilty that I didn't share. 

This was the old center I used to go to.  Was never really happy here.  They didn't offer anything, and when they did, no one seemed to be interested in anything but bingo and cards so they gave up.

Miss Minga with her little girl, Twinkie.  Twinkie ran away about 20 years ago.  We had moved from the house where she was born.  We decided that it would be best to move the furniture one day, then go back for the cats the next day so we left them with plenty of food and water.  The next day I had to work so we had planned on going that evening to pick them up.  Well, hubby decided to surprise me by having them home waiting for me.  Unfortunately he forgot to close the back door and when Twinkie saw the carrying case she ran away.  A few weeks later the new owners called to tell me she was there, but they couldn't hold her because they were going away.  I heard her little meow in the background, so hubby and I took her favorite treats, but there was no sign of her. We tried for three days straight.  No luck.  Then I received a call from the new owners asking why I hadn't gotten my cat.  We tried again and again, but no luck.  Finally, I realized that everything happens for a reason.  Twinkie was never meant to come here with us.  As I write this, I feel tears welling up.  I loved that little girl with her baby cry.

Sea gulls.  Hundreds of them right around the corner from my building.

My mom in her later years.  I look in the mirror and I see her looking back at me.  I tried to find a picture of me so you could see the resemblance, but I am always smiling and mom was always frowning.  She was a beautiful woman, but must have been so unhappy on the inside.

This is what I have to contend with during a snowy winter.  Not only do they not shovel, but those are cars parked in the bus stop.

How proud I was when I received my 25 pound charm.

Me and my grandfather.

Me and my grandmother.  They were both fairly old when I was born, especially grandma who was 11 years older than my granddad.  She was born in 1881, he in 1894.  I was born in 1947.  She was 66 when I was born.  My mom was a change of life baby.